The Drunken Duck Inn
Ambleside, Cumbria
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When Lakeland rain lashes, and the clouds seem close, how lovely to push open the door to the Drunken Duck. There are no ducks at the bar, let alone drunken ones, but wet dogs, wet boots and wet people are ushered in, absorbed easily into comfortable chairs by the fire or onto cushioned settles. The wood burner is lit on this turn-of-the-season day, and the welcome is one of lamplit conviviality. The rain can lash all it likes. For all the pubbiness of the bar, the separate dining room (no dogs here) serves up accomplished cooking. Start with a billowing Lancashire cheese soufflé – tangy, golden-topped, chive-flecked – or a satisfyingly chunky duck terrine. Scooped through a sharp damson ketchup and onto a warm crumpet, it’s a meal in itself. Generous, weather-beating main courses might include venison bourgignon with suet pudding or an attractively presented treacle-cured celeriac Wellington. The latter bursts with seasonal flavour, the nuttiness of the celeriac and its purée, plus the richness of caramelised potatoes, playing well with the bitter edge of charred hispi cabbage and freshening acidity that comes from pickled shallots, enoki mushrooms and a beetroot jus. Stone bass, crisp-skinned and perfectly flaky, is deliciously autumnal alongside roasted and puréed Jerusalem artichoke and crisp little gnocchi. Puddings are puddings – let a sticky toffee, or a carrot cake with vanilla yoghurt, candied pecans and cinnamon ice cream, round off a meal robustly. A straightforward wine list includes 175ml pours for a reasonable £7, but do explore the Barngates Brewery beers, all made on site. After a lunch like this, the zippy hoppiness of a pint of Cat Nap could fit the bill.
